WAMPSVILLE, N.Y. – Madison County Treasurer Cindy Edick has presented the 2026 Tentative Budget to the county Board of Supervisors.
The Tentative Budget provides for a spending plan totaling $174,118,142, an increase of $8,292,150, or 5.0%. The proposed County Tax Levy is $49,785,000. This is an increase of 3.1% from 2025 and within the state-enacted tax cap levy.
County property tax rates vary among the municipalities in Madison County. Some county residents will see an increase in their tax rates, while others will see a decrease, depending on the location of the property.
On average, the property tax rate will increase $0.30 per $1,000 of taxable value. The average Madison County home with an assessment of $100,000 would see an increase of $30, resulting in 2026 county taxes of $1,129.30.
The county Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the tentative county budget on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. The final budget will be adopted by the board on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Many of the increases for 2026 are due to inflation, increase in salary and fringe benefits, and contractual expenditures. Being a service-driven entity, payroll costs account for about 42% of the County budget. A 4.2% increase in contractual expenditures also contributed to the overall budget increase.
Unfunded state mandates account for over $44 million of the 2026 Tentative Budget. Approximately 90% of the proposed 2026 tax levy of $49,785,000 will be used to fund services and benefits mandated by New York State. The largest of these mandates continues to be Medicaid, at an estimated cost of $11,475,984 in 2026.
The proposed budget includes roughly $10.7 million in changes from original department requests. Those changes include:
– a reduction of $5.5 million in expenses from county department requests.
– significant cuts to the Facilities, IT, and Highway departments, including $1.9 million in highway equipment replacements that were part of the departments Capital Plan.
– level funding for Madison County Non-Profit Agencies.
– revenues were reviewed and an additional $5.2 million in revenues are included from the department request levels.
This year residents can utilize a new tool called ClearGov, a cloud-based financial transparency software to view a breakdown of the 2026 tentative budget.
“Madison County partnered with ClearGov to increase efficiency when it comes to the budgeting process, as well as increase transparency with our residents,” Madison County Administrator Mark Scimone said. “Residents are able to dig into budget details, see trends and truly understand where your tax dollars are utilized. I am grateful to all our departments this year for cutting or scaling back during this tough budget year.”
ClearGov allows anyone using the portal to view Madison County’s revenues and expenditures, read narratives about each department’s budget, and view trends. This modern approach also simplifies the process for Departments
“As with any new software, the implementation of ClearGov was not without its challenges,” Madison County Treasurer Cindy Edick said. “Now that we’ve finalized the tentative budget, it’s exciting to see how easily the software can produce graphics to illustrate historical trends and assist with budget analysis. It provides a much different view of the County’s budget than the traditional, static version we’ve been producing for decades.”
The ClearGov portal is available on the Madison County website https://ift.tt/VE0tlCv.
“This budget reflects months of hard work and collaboration across all departments,” Madison County Director of Finance Lou Anne Randall said. “By embracing tools like ClearGov, we’re not only improving efficiency in the budgeting process but also giving residents clear insight into how their tax dollars are invested in Madison County.”
